Rotherham United’s next pre-season friendly sees them travel to Field Mill – at the moment called the One Call Stadium – where they take on Mansfield Town.
Mansfield Town had a couple of guises before coming into being in 1910 and were in the Notts and Derbyshire District League and the following year to the Central Alliance of which they were champions at the end of the 1919/20 season. The following year they joined the Midland League which they won on three occasions before eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1931. They were in the third or fourth division for some years before two promotions in three years saw them reach the Second Division for the 1977/8 season. A couple of relegations and then another promotion brings the club to the 80’s and saw them win the Football League Trophy in 1986/7. More ups and downs saw them relegated from the league in 2008 and they spent five years in the Conference before winning the title – and promotion – back to the league at the end of the 2012/13 season. 2020/1 saw Nigel Clough take over as manager and although the next two seasons saw them struggle, Clough led them to safety. Last season saw the Stags finish in seventh place and eventually reach the play-off final at Wembley which they lost three-nil to Port Vale.
The last time the Millers and Stags met at Field Mill in the League was in a League Two game in 2008. Many Rotherham fans had walked from Millmoor to Field Mill to try to raise cash for the club and raise the awareness of the plight of clubs in the lower leagues. It was probably fitting that it was a ‘freak goal’ that won the game when on seventy minutes Millers sub Jamie Yates let fly from forty yards out, the ball going ‘miles’ into the air and bouncing down going over the outstretched arms of Town ‘keeper White and under the bar into the net for the only goal of the game. The game ended with the home fans calling for the head of owner and chairman Keith Haslam. The following week Mansfield were relegated to the Conference.
The teams met in a friendly game in 2020 at Field Mill with former Miller Graham Coughlan in the hot seat for the Stags. Joe Mattock opened the scoring for the visitors on fifty minutes and a back-heel, Michael Smith made it two with Mickel Miller making it three-nil on the stroke of full-time.
July last year also saw the teams in a pre-season game again at Mansfield, this time the ground having the new name of the One Call Stadium. The sixtieth minute saw the opening goal when a super ball from Hakeem Odoffin saw a shot from Chieo Ogbene blocked going for a corner which Dan Barlaser took finding Joshua Kayode who headed home to put the visitors in front which was more or less his last moments in the game as he limped off minutes later. The hosts equalised with four minutes to go when a shot from a tight angle from Rhys Oates flew into the net.
Last season saw the Stags just missing out on a play-off place in League Two on goal difference.
The game has a 3pm kick-off time on Saturday, 22 July.
